Protective and decorative coating compositions are applied on a variety of substrates that are used to make everyday machines and appliances. For example, automobiles, trucks, washing machine doors, industrial equipment, etc. are all made from coated substrates.
Generally, after a coating composition is applied on a substrate, it is cured by some mechanism. Examples of typical curing mechanisms are thermal cure, actinic radiation cure, and ionizing radiation cure.
For certain coating applications like coating hardwood floors, paper, and furniture, coating compositions that are curable by actinic or ionizing radiation are preferred over conventional, thermally cured coatings. Coating compositions that can be cured using actinic or ionizing radiation also offer the following benefits over conventional, thermally cured coatings: (1) coatings that cure via actinic or ionizing radiation cure very fast; (2) coatings that cure via actinic or ionizing radiation do not require time consuming oven bakes; and (3) coatings that cure by actinic or ionizing radiation can be used on heat sensitive materials.
The present invention provides a novel coating composition that can be cured using actinic and/or ionizing radiation.